Beautiful day

Today was such a nice day that I wasn't surprised when West asked to go outside. I followed him out eagerly, and he asked me to watch him jump on the trampoline. So I grabbed my camera and got some photos of him jumping and kicking and having a fun time. Here are some of them:

Even Big Turtle got in on the action, since it was such a nice day out.

I even had a silly little monkey to photograph, and was grateful that he let me!

I even got a shot of my current favorite pair of shoes. They make me smile because they add a fun pop of color to my normally basic wardrobe. :)

Catching up!

Hi everyone! Or, at least whomever is still reading this blog, ha, I know it’s not that many. I have finally carved out some time to do a little catch-up post. I suppose I’ll start from most recent and work my way back. We’ll see.
This week was fun, we just got back from a trip to Utah, and instead of going right back into the routine and tackling the pile of laundry staring me down, on Monday I took West to Disneyland. We got passes again this year for Christmas, and I feel like we haven’t used them as much as I’d like. Of course, it’s hard with a child in school and everything, but I wanted to just go. So we did! Here are some fun pictures from the day.

Waiting in line:

We saw Lightning McQueen making his way to sign autographs:

While we ate at Flo’s Café:

After that we headed to Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. This one is always a favorite with both my boys. We started with the tire swing. He’s such a little guy and it’s fun to watch him zip down the line…

…and then slam into the tire at the end and go swinging! So fun.

Next we headed to the little ‘graduation ceremony’ they do for all the Wilderness Explorers. I love the thought they put into the details of this little show and the leader is always so energetic and fun.

After helping out with the show (West was being VERY interactive and answered each and every question emphatically. It was pretty hilarious, and he was cracking everyone up.), West got to get his sticker badge and take a photo with Russell. He had lots of fun!

Then it was off to the slides…

…and then rock climbing!

And a final JUMP! to the finish line!

That was pretty much our fun day! After rock climbing, we had to start heading home so that we could be there when Eli got out of school. I thought I was leaving plenty of time, but of course it turned out to be the first time we’ve ever been late to pick up Eli from school. He was confused as to why we weren’t there, but luckily a mom from our street spotted him and sat with him until we got there. Which was, literally, about 4 minutes after they let out, but he was already starting to walk home on his own. I’m glad for the mom for stopping with him so that he didn’t head all the way home! Needless to say, we had a good talk about what to do if Mom isn’t there after school.
In any case, I predict a lot more Disney dates with West this year. Hopefully will better time management so we don’t miss E!

Pasadena party

I was so excited to get to visit with my childhood best friend this past week. Summer has lived in Pasadena for a couple of years, and although we haven’t gotten to visit with each other as much as I’d like, it’s been great being closer.

Recently Summer’s husband got a new job in Salt Lake, so I knew we’d need to schedule one last visit before they headed out. Plus getting to meet their newest addition Daniel was the icing on the cake! He’s adorable. And while I didn’t take that many photos of us, I did get a few while we went out to lunch. And West took some for us too. :)

Thanks for a fun visit, Summer! We’ll have to catch up with you in the frozen north the next time we’re up there. ::wink::

Hanging with good friends

We were so lucky to grab some time to meet up with my dear friend Tracy this week! The kids have missed seeing her boys and Ruth, and Irvine Regional Park was the perfect setting to reconnect. It had been way too long since we had seen each other, and it was so good to get to chat together again and see what’s going on in each others’ lives. It’s crazy how fast the time goes when you’re in this season of life, with kids growing and pregnancies and babies and school schedules and everything needing your attention ‘right now’. So it was a blessing to stop for a while and just hang out. I miss that since moving away from Mission Viejo and one of my very favorite friends.

Here’s what we did!

We got to the park a tad early, so I took the boys out to explore and got a few shots of them.

I didn’t have my nice camera with me, but a semi-okay photo is better than no photo, right? ;)

Then our friends came and we got to play with them! Best day ever!

Once the woods trees had been thoroughly explored, we got the idea to rent a couple of bicycles that we could all fit on, and take those for a ride around the park. It was a ton of fun, but also a lot more strenuous to cart around the kids than I thought it would be. I definitely got my workout in for the day! :)

Of course, the only picture I got of West and he looks like he’s drunk! Haha.

We took our lunches with us and had a fun little picnic in the middle of the ride. It was perfect weather and we had a great time. After the bike ride was over, of course we had to have dessert! I had some cupcakes left over from a baby shower that weekend, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed them, even if they were all pink! :)

Then the boys wanted to play in the ‘woods’, which they remembered from a previous visit, and after they were done building their tree house, we got a shot of the whole group.

And, of course, a silly one. We can’t miss that opportunity!

Thanks so much for a great visit, Larsens! We sure miss you guys and wish we could see you more often. But we’ll still take what we can get! ;)

Oh, the cheesiest

Today the boys had their combined, belated birthday party. After the massive effort that was involved in the Lego party and How to Train Your Dragon parties of the previous two years, this year I caved and called the big mouse. No, not Mickey, but his step-brother: Chuck E Cheese!

I have to admit, my expectations weren’t all that high, but I was pleasantly surprised. The kids had a great time playing the games with the massive amount of tokens we got, and the Moms (and my hubs) had a great time just sitting around and visiting with each other! The best part was that the hostess pretty much took care of everything, including the food orders, set-up and take-down, and the boys got a lot of great souvenirs to take home.

 

Here is a favorite activity the boys got to do – the ticket blaster! They asked them if they wanted to go separately or together, and they chose to go together. Of course. :)

These two adorable kiddos had a lot of fun riding this ride! I suspect it’s because it let you lay down the whole time and you could relax! :) They were so cute.

Of course, we had to have the Big Cheese come out and celebrate with the boys and their friends. They led them in a dance, a contest, and even crowned the boys with their awesome coin crowns!

Oh how I wish I had a video of West boogying in his chair! He was loving the music and dancing the way he does, which is just too cute. He definitely has more rhythm than me!

It was a really fun party, and I really loved not having to do much for it myself! We’ll see what happens next year…